PineCon 2025: Baltic Boar Wins Best Prototype Award

Druskininkai once again became the capital of Lithuanian board gaming as PineCon 2025, one of the largest board game festivals in the Baltic States, gathered enthusiasts for the ninth consecutive year.

While the festival celebrated the best Lithuanian board games of 2024, a major highlight for the local industry was the success of UAB Baltic Boar and its founder, Tomas Miliauskas.

Baltic Boar Recognized for Innovation

During the PineCon Board Game Awards, the jury selected “Dream City” as the Best Board Game Prototype of the year. The game was created by Tomas Miliauskas, founder of UAB Baltic Boar — a company that has steadily established itself as one of Lithuania’s most promising board game creators.

This recognition further strengthens Baltic Boar’s position in the Lithuanian board game market. Miliauskas is already well known for previous successful titles, including:

• “Marijampolė” – awarded Best Lithuanian Board Game of 2022
• “Politiškės” – one of the nominees for Best Lithuanian Board Game of 2024

With “Dream City,” Baltic Boar once again demonstrated its ability to combine strong thematic concepts with engaging gameplay mechanics, earning recognition from both national and international experts.

International Jury and Strong Competition

The PineCon prototype competition featured 10 selected finalists whose games were tested live by publishers and industry guests from Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia.

The jury included respected professionals from the European board game community:

• Michał Gryń and Artur “Bishop” Lutyński (Poland), representatives of the playtesting group “Pamper” and organizers of Designer Camp, the largest board game creators’ event in Central Europe
• Jānis Grunte and Jānis Tilaks (Latvia), members of the popular Baltic board game channel “Board Game Hangover”
• Lithuanian industry leaders, including representatives from Brain Games, Terra Publica, and Kadabra

Being selected and ultimately winning in such a competitive and internationally evaluated environment marks an important milestone for Baltic Boar.

Celebrating Lithuanian Board Game Excellence

During the festival, other major awards were also announced. “Heated” by Marijus Lapinskas and Justina Lapinskienė (published by Explosive Fox Games) was named Best Lithuanian Board Game of 2024, while “Dungeon Fighter” (localized by Terra Publica) received the award for Best Localized Game of 2024.

The festival also hosted the Lithuanian national championships for “Catan” and “Carcassonne,” organized by Brain Games. The winners earned the right to represent Lithuania at international championships.

Baltic Boar’s Growing Impact

The success of “Dream City” confirms that UAB Baltic Boar continues to play a significant role in shaping Lithuania’s modern board game landscape. From historically inspired titles to innovative new prototypes, the company is steadily expanding its creative portfolio and strengthening its reputation both locally and internationally.

As PineCon 2025 demonstrated, Baltic Boar is not only participating in Lithuania’s board game movement — it is helping to lead it.